Retail Notebook: Mother, daughter team open clothing boutique

Laura Blake is living her dream, and her mother, Cathy Goodman, is helping her fulfill it.

The two are opening the Weeping Willow Boutique on Herritage Street Saturday, when the store will be open all day from 10 a.m.

“This has been my dream, forever,” 31-year-old Blake said.

A graduate of Kinston High School in 2000, Blake earned a Bachelor of Science degree in apparel and merchandising with a minor in business in 2004 at ECU.

Following graduation, she worked as a buyer at Marsha’s Surf Shop in Atlantic Beach.

Her dream was put on hold when she later worked for various law firms in Jacksonville. When her father, the late Rodney Goodman, who retired as chief district court judge, became ill three years ago, she came back to Kinston so he could spend his remaining life with her son, then 8 months old.

On Thursday, Blake and her mother expressed excitement over seeing her dream come to fruition.

Goodman said that following the death of her husband, she wanted to bring her daughter’s dream of owning a ladies’ boutique to reality. When she heard Cathy Bass was closing The Briary, she spoke with her about taking over the space.

It’s Goodman’s love of shopping that excites her about opening the store, she said.

“I’ve always enjoyed shopping,” she said. “I think it’s just been an interest of mine.”

Goodman, whose parents owned a Western Auto in Snow Hill, worked at La Petite Boutique with owner Laura Pressly, who mentored Goodman and Blake as they ventured into their first business.

The store specializes in apparel for ladies’ from about ages 18 to 50 — clothes that can be slipped on quickly by “moms on the go” and look nice, Blake said.

“A lot of our dresses have pockets,” she said, making them practical for mothers.

The store features three dressing rooms, and the new stock is just right for the warmer weather.

Brands include Karlie, Joy Joy, Jade, LillaP, Tulle and Escapada, as well as the denim lines DL1961 Denim and Citizens of Humanity.

The shop also carries smaller lines from upstart companies, including a line of beach apparel.

Besides clothing, the store carries jewelry, including Elsa & G from Charlotte and Megan Brown; and Dapper Ducky doggie bowties by Cameron Parson of Kinston; and hats and scarves.

The Weeping Willow, 212 N. Herritage St., is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment. For information, call 252-686-6919.

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Kenneth “Pete” Osborne’s got the supplies, tools and manpower to build a custom outbuilding or carport and deliver it to your property.

Osborne opened his La Grange business, East Coast Metal Structures, in May. The Kinston native learned the value of hard work growing up.

“I was raised on a tobacco farm on Girl Scout Road,” he said.

The son of Geraldine Heath, he was raised by his late grandparents, Tullie and Hortense Taylor.

He graduated from Kinston High School in 1976 and has worked in a number of fields, including tobacco fields and metal buildings and auto sales, and once owned a car lot.

Now he’s taken his experience to his own metal building business.

“Anything you can build out of wood, we can build out of metal,” he said.

His company builds carports, lean-tos and fully-enclosed storage sheds and other outbuildings.

“A lot of these guys want man caves,” he said, referring to a place for men to have a room of their own to hang out, watch television or work on a hobby.

The buildings are constructed with 14-gauge galvanized tubing covered with metal sheeting or vinyl siding with at least 15 color choices. The interiors can be finished with drywall or plywood.

“We can build a building 24 by 48 (feet) with concrete for $7,900,” he said.

Osborne employs two welders and contracts with two teams of installers who are master builders.

“We try to have a six- to eight-week turnaround,” he said.

The company has a 25-year warranty on rust and a one-year warranty on leaks.

Osborne has other plans for his property on U.S. 70. He is working to open Taylor Boys Produce and Flea Market in April on the opposite side of his large parking lot.

He envisions a market stand, vendors selling snacks, boiled peanuts, ice cream, shaved ice and flea market items, with RV parking and a fenced-in area for travelers to give their dogs exercise when heading towards the beach.

“It’s just going to be a place where they can kick back and relax,” Osborne said, “and walk the dog.”